Method and apparatus for providing broadband signals to a portable user device

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for providing broadband signals to a portable user device is disclosed. Broadband signals, such as satellite radio signals, are received at a base station having a plurality of antennas. The content of the broadband signals are then encoded using space time coding (STC), and the STC encoded broadband content is transmitted from the plurality of antennas via a first wireless network protocol. The STC encoded broadband content can be received at a portable user device having a plurality of antennas or at a wireless access point having a plurality of antennas, which then transmit the broadband signals via a second wireless network protocol.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to providing broadband signals to aportable user device. More specifically, the present invention isdirected to a method and apparatus for providing broadband signals, suchas satellite radio signals, to a portable user device, such as a potabledigital assistant (PDA), cell phone, etc., using space time coding.

Satellite radio signals are broadcast signals transmitted via aspace-based satellite to a receiving device. A satellite radio receiveris a digital radio that receives signals broadcast by a satellite over asatellite radio channel. Satellite radio signals cover a much largerrange than terrestrial radio signals. Satellite radio signals typicallyare broadcast using a 2.3 GHz S band in North America and sharing a 1.4GHz L band elsewhere.

Satellite radio services are typically offered by business entities as apackage of satellite radio channels that require a subscription toaccess. Such satellite radio channels contain satellite radio content,which can include various types of music, talk, etc. Each satelliteradio receiver has a unique electronic serial number (ESN) to identifyit. When a user subscribes to a satellite radio service, a subscriptionis associated with the ESN of user's satellite radio receiver. The ESNof associated with the subscription is then included in an authorizationcode that is transmitted with the satellite radio signals from thesatellite. The satellite radio signals transmitted from the satellitecannot be accessed by receiver whose ESN is not identified in theauthorization code. Accordingly, the authorization code is received bysatellite radio receivers and allows a receiver identified by its ESN inthe authorization code to access the satellite radio content.

Many portable user devices typically use narrowband technology fortransmitting and receiving wireless signals. Because satellite radiosignals are broadcast at a broadband frequency rather than a narrowbandfrequency, portable user devices cannot reliably act as receivers forthe broadband satellite radio signals.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for reliablyproviding broadband signals to portable user devices. This is achievedby transmitting the broadband signals to portable user devices usingspace time coding (STC).

The present invention allows a wireless network provider to satelliteradio content to multiple portable user devices with a single satelliteradio subscription. Accordingly, the wireless network provider can offersatellite radio, or other broadband services, to users without the usersindividually subscribing to a satellite radio service.

In one embodiment of the present invention broadband signals containingbroadband content are received at a base station having a plurality ofantennas. The base station encodes the broadband content using STC, andthe STC encoded broadband content is transmitted from the plurality ofantennas via a first wireless network protocol. The transmitted STCencoded broadband content can be received by a portable user devicehaving a plurality of antennas. The portable user device then decodesthe STC encoded broadband content. The transmitted STC encoded broadbandcontent can also be received at an access point having a plurality ofantennas, which receive the STC encoded broadband content and transmitthe broadband content via a second wireless network protocol. The accesspoint can transmit the STC encoded broadband content from its antennasvia the second wireless network protocol or decode the STC encodedbroadband content and transmit the decoded broadband content from itsantennas via the second wireless network protocol.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the broadbandsignals are satellite radio signals containing satellite radio content.It is possible that the satellite radio signals are received at the basestation via at least one of the plurality of antennas used to transmitthe STC encoded signals. The base station is associated with anelectronic serial number (ESN), which is associated with an activesatellite radio subscription that allows access to the satellite radiocontent contained in the satellite radio signals. The satellite radiocontent is encoded using STC and the STC encoded content is transmittedfrom the plurality of antennas via the first wireless network protocol.Thus, it is possible to provide satellite radio content to multipleportable user devices with a single subscription associated with thebase station.

These and other advantages of the invention will be apparent to those ofordinary skill in the art by reference to the following detaileddescription and the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates apparatus for providing satellite radio signals toportable user devices according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 a method of providing satellite radio signals to portable userdevices according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a functional block diagram of a base stationaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a functional block diagram of a portable user deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention is directed to providing content of broadbandsignals, such as satellite radio signal, to portable user devices, suchas personal digital assistants (PDAs), cell phones, etc. Although thepresent invention is described herein as providing content of satelliteradio signals to portable user devices, the present invention is notlimited to satellite radio signals and may be applied to any broadbandsignals.

FIG. 1 illustrates apparatus for providing satellite radio signals toportable user devices according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. As illustrated in FIG. 1, a base station 110 includes aplurality of antennas 112, 114, 116, and 118. These antennas 112, 114,116, and 118 make up a space time coding (STC) transmission unit. STC isa method employed to improve the reliability of data transmission inwireless communication systems using multiple transmission antennas. STCmethods rely on transmitting multiple redundant copies of a data streamfrom the transmission antennas so that at least some of the redundantcopies may survive the physical path between transmission and receptionin a good enough state to allow reliable decoding. For example, U.S.Pat. No. 6,115,427 to Calderbank et al. discloses a Method and Apparatusfor Data Transmission Using Space-Time Codes and Multiple TransmitAntennas. Data is encoded at the base station 110 using STC to generatean STC code, such as a trellis code. The STC code is distributed overthe multiple antennas 112, 114, 116, and 118 at the base station 110 inorder to transmit multiple redundant copies of the encoded data from themultiple antennas 112, 114, 116, and 118. Although four antennas 112,114, 116, and 118 are illustrated in FIG. 1, this number of antennas maybe varied according to the STC algorithm used.

FIG. 2 illustrates a method of providing content of satellite radiosignals to portable user devices according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. This method is described while referring to FIGS. 1and 2. At step 210, satellite radio signals are received at a basestation 110. The satellite radio signals are transmitted from asatellite 120 and contain satellite radio content. Satellite radiocontent can include radio programming such as music and talk, but is notlimited thereto. According to the embodiment of FIG. 1, one or more ofthe antennas 112, 114, 116, and 118 of the STC transmission group actsas a receiving antenna for the satellite radio signals in order toreceive the satellite radio signals at the base station 110. However, itis also possible that a separate antenna from the STC transmission groupbe used to receive the satellite radio signals at the base station 110.

The base station 110 is associated with a unique electronic serialnumber (ESN). The ESN associated with the base station 110 is associatedwith a subscription to a satellite radio service that provides thesatellite radio content in the satellite radio signals. When thissubscription is activated, the ESN of the base station 110 is thenincluded in an authorization code that is transmitted with the satelliteradio signals from the satellite 120. The authorization code is receivedby the base station 110 with the satellite radio signals. Since the ESNof the base station 110 is identified in the authorization code, thebase station 110 can then access the satellite radio content containedin the satellite radio signals received from the satellite 120.

At step 220, the satellite radio content is encoded using STC at thebase station 110. As described above, the satellite radio signalscontain satellite radio content which is accessible based on thesubscription associated with the ESN that is associated with the basestation 110. This satellite radio content is encoded using an STCalgorithm. For example, the satellite radio signals can be encoded usinga space time trellis code, which provides by both temporal and spatialdiversity when transmitting from the multiple antennas 112, 114, 116,and 118 of the base station.

At step 230, the STC encoded satellite radio content is transmitted fromthe multiple antennas 112, 114, 116, and 118 of the base station 110 viaa first wireless network protocol. For example, as illustrated in FIG.1, the antennas 112, 114, 116, and 118 of the base station 110 cantransmit the STC encoded satellite radio content using the IEEE 802.16standard commonly known as WiMax. Accordingly, WiMax signals containingthe STC encoded satellite radio content are transmitted from theantennas 112, 114, 116, and 118 over a range of the base station 110.Although FIG. 1 illustrates WiMax being used as the first wirelessnetwork protocol, the present invention is not limited thereto.

At step 240, the STC encoded satellite radio content transmitted via thefirst wireless network protocol is received at a portable user devicehaving a plurality of antennas which function as an STC receiving unit.As illustrated in FIG. 1, portable user devices 130, 140, and 150 eachhave two antennas 132 and 134, 142 and 144, and 152 and 154,respectively, for receiving the WiMax signals transmitted from theantennas 112, 114, 116, and 118 of the base station 110 and containingthe STC encoded satellite radio content. Although the portable userdevices 130, 140, and 150 are shown as each having two antennas 132 and134, 142 and 144, and 152 and 154, respectively, the number of antennason each portable user device may vary.

At step 250, the portable user device decodes the STC encoded satelliteradio content. STC decoding decodes STC encode data to reproduce thedata that was STC encoded before being transmitted. This may require theportable user device to have additional functionality, such as STCdecoding software, hardware, etc. Once the satellite radio content isdecoded a user of the portable user device can listen to the satelliteradio content. The user of the portable user device has full access tothe satellite radio content even without an individual subscription tothe satellite radio service for that user. For example, in FIG. 1,portable user devices 130, 140, and 150 decode the STC encoded satelliteradio content included in the WiMax signals transmitted from the basestation 110. Since the base station 110 accesses the satellite radiocontent contained in the satellite radio signals using a subscriptionassociated with the ESN of the base station 110, the portable userdevices 130, 140, and 150 have access to the satellite radio contentwithout a separate subscription for each portable user device 130, 140,and 150. However, the portable user devices 130, 140, and 150 mayrequire a subscription to receive the wireless signals from the basestation 110. Thus, a wireless network service provider can provide thesatellite radio content as part of the wireless network service. In thiscase, the base station 110 can store a user profiles associated with theESN of each portable user device with a subscription to the wirelessnetwork service. The user profile can including information relating tobilling, security and user preferences for the user of the correspondingportable user device.

At step 260, the STC encoded satellite radio content transmitted via thefirst wireless network protocol is received at a wireless access pointhaving a plurality of antennas which function as an STC receiving unit.As illustrated in FIG. 1, wireless access point 160 includes antennas162 and 164 for receiving the WiMax signals transmitted from theantennas 112, 114, 116, and 118 of the base station 110 and containingthe STC encoded satellite radio content.

At step 270, the wireless access point transmits the STC encodedsatellite radio content via a second wireless network protocol. Forexample, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the antennas 162 and 164 of thewireless access point 160 can transmit the satellite radio content usingthe IEEE 802.11 standard commonly known as WiFi. Accordingly, WiFisignals containing the STC encoded satellite radio content aretransmitted from the antennas 162 and 164, and the wireless access point160 has a range determined by the WiFi signals. As known in the art,WiFi has a significantly smaller range than WiMax. Thus, the wirelessaccess point 160 can generate a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) or a“hotspot” where users can access the satellite radio content. Forexample, the wireless access point 160 can create a “hotspot” for aparticular business, building, etc. As illustrated in FIG. 1, portableuser device 170 receives the WiFi signals transmitted from the wirelessaccess point 160 and containing the satellite radio content. Accordingto one embodiment of the present invention, the STC encoded satelliteradio content can be decoded at the wireless access point 160 and thentransmitted using the second wireless network protocol. However,according to another embodiment of the present invention, the STCencoded satellite radio content is transmitted via the second wirelessnetwork protocol and decoded by a portable user device which receivesthe satellite radio content via the second wireless network protocol.

FIG. 3 illustrates a functional block diagram of a base station 300according to an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated inFIG. 3, the base station 300 includes antennas 302, 304, 306, and 308. Asatellite radio receiver 310 is connected to an antenna 302 and receivessatellite radio signals which are transmitted from a satellite. Thesatellite radio signals may be encrypted so the satellite radio contentcontained in the satellite radio signals can only be accessed with anactive subscription. The satellite radio signals are decrypted by adecryptor 320 in order to access the satellite radio content. Thedecryptor 320 uses the ESN 322 associated with the base station 300 todecrypt the satellite radio signals. As described above, since the ESN322 of the base station 300 is associated with an active satellite radiosubscription, the decryptor 320 can access the satellite radio contentcontained in the satellite radio signals. The decryptor 320 may beimplemented using computer program instructions executed by a processorof the base station 300. The satellite radio content is then encodedusing STC by an STC encoder 330. The STC encoder 330 may also beimplemented using computer program instructions executed by a processorof the base station 300. A wireless transceiver 340 transmits the STCencoded satellite radio content using the antennas 302, 304, 306, and308 via a wireless network protocol, such as WiMax, WiFi, etc. Thewireless transceiver 340 is also capable of receiving data via thewireless network protocol, such as communications from portable userdevices. As illustrated in FIG. 3, antenna 302 is used to receive thesatellite radio signals and to transmit the STC encoded satellite radiocontent. However, a separate antenna from the antennas 302, 304, 206,and 308 used to transmit the STC encode satellite radio content may beused to receive the satellite radio signals. The base station 300 canalso include a memory 350. The memory 350 includes a database 352 forstoring user profiles associated with ESNs of portable user deviceshaving subscriptions for wireless network services. The user profilescan include information relating to billing, security (i.e., speakerverification), and user preferences. This information can be transmittedfrom the portable user devices and received via the wireless transceiver340. The base station 300 acts as a home base station for users whoreside within a range of the base station 300. The base station 300stores the user profiles for the users for which the base station 300 isthe home base station.

FIG. 4 illustrates a functional block diagram of a portable user device400 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As illustratedin FIG. 4, the portable user device 400 includes antennas 402 and 404which are connected to a wireless transceiver 410 for receiving the STCencoded satellite radio content transmitted via a wireless networkprotocol, such as WiMax, WiFi, etc. The wireless transceiver 410 is alsocapable of transmitting data, such as information relating to billing,security and user preferences to a base station via the wireless networkprotocol. An STC decoder 420 decodes the STC encoded satellite radiocontent. The STC decoder 420 may be implemented as computer programinstructions executed by a processor of the portable user device 400.The portable user device further includes an output 430, such asspeakers, a display, etc., to deliver the decoded satellite radiocontent to a user. The portable user device 400 can also include amemory 440 for storing various information. For example, the memory 440can store a user profile including information relating to billing,security, and user preferences for a wireless network servicesubscription. This user profile can be transmitted to a base station bythe wireless transceiver 410. The portable user device 400 is associatedwith an ESN which is used to uniquely identify the portable user device400.

As described above, according to embodiments of the present invention, asingle satellite radio subscription associated with a base station canbe used to provide satellite radio content to multiple portable userdevices within a range of a wireless network protocol used to transmitthe satellite radio content from the base station. This allows atelecommunications service provider providing wireless network serviceto portable user devices of customers to provide access to satelliteradio as part of the wireless network service.

Although embodiments of the present invention described above use an STCscheme in which there are four STC transmission antennas and two STCreceiving antennas, the present invention is not limited thereto. Oneskilled in the art will recognize that various other STC schemes can beused having different numbers of STC transmission and receivingantennas.

The foregoing Detailed Description is to be understood as being in everyrespect illustrative and exemplary, but not restrictive, and the scopeof the invention disclosed herein is not to be determined from theDetailed Description, but rather from the claims as interpretedaccording to the full breadth permitted by the patent laws. It is to beunderstood that the embodiments shown and described herein are onlyillustrative of the principles of the present invention and that variousmodifications may be implemented by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the invention. Those skilled inthe art could implement various other feature combinations withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the invention.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving satellite radio signals containing satellite radio content directly by a base station comprising a first plurality of antennas, wherein the base station is deployed in a wireless network, wherein the base station is associated with an electronic serial number, and the electronic serial number is associated with an active satellite radio subscription which allows access to the satellite radio content contained in the satellite radio signals, wherein the satellite radio signals are provided by an entity that is different from an entity that provides the wireless network; encoding the satellite radio content using space time coding; and transmitting the space time coding encoded satellite radio content from the first plurality of antennas via a first wireless network protocol to a plurality of portable user devices, to allow each of the plurality of portable user devices to access the satellite radio content without individual active satellite radio subscriptions, wherein users of the plurality of portable user devices are subscribers of the wireless network.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving the space time coding encoded satellite radio content at a portable user device comprising a second plurality of antennas; and decoding the space time coding encoded satellite radio content at the portable user device.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving the space time coding encoded satellite radio content at a second plurality of antennas; and transmitting the space time coding encoded satellite radio content from the second plurality of antennas via a second wireless network protocol.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first wireless network protocol is an IEEE 802.16 protocol and the second wireless network protocol is an IEEE 802.11 protocol.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving the space time coding encoded satellite radio content at a second plurality of antennas; decoding the space time coding encoded satellite radio content; and transmitting the decoded satellite radio content from the second plurality of antennas via a second wireless network protocol.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving satellite radio signals comprises: receiving the satellite radio signals via at least one of the first plurality of antennas.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: storing a plurality of user profiles, each user profile corresponding to an identifier of a portable user device of the plurality of portable user devices.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein each user profile includes information relating to billing preferences associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of portable user devices.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein each user profile includes information relating to security preferences associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of portable user devices.
 10. The method of claim 7, wherein each user profile includes information relating to user preferences associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of portable user devices.
 11. A base station comprising: means for receiving satellite radio signals containing satellite radio content directly by the base station, wherein the base station is deployed in a wireless network, wherein the base station is associated with an electronic serial number, and the electronic serial number is associated with an active satellite radio subscription which allows access to the satellite radio content contained in the satellite radio signals, wherein the satellite radio signals are provided by an entity that is different from an entity that provides the wireless network; means for encoding the satellite radio content using space time coding; and a first plurality of antennas for transmitting the space time coding encoded satellite radio content via a first wireless network protocol to a plurality of portable user devices, to allow each of the plurality of portable user devices to access the satellite radio content without individual active satellite radio subscriptions, wherein users of the plurality of portable user devices are subscribers of the wireless network.
 12. The base station of claim 11, wherein the means for receiving comprises at least one of the first plurality of antennas.
 13. The base station of claim 11, wherein the space time coding encoded satellite radio content is received at a portable user device of the plurality of portable user devices comprising: a second plurality of antennas for receiving the space time coding encoded satellite radio content transmitted via the first wireless network protocol; and means for decoding the space time coding encoded satellite radio content.
 14. The base station of claim 13, wherein the first plurality of antennas comprises four antennas and the second plurality of antennas comprises two antennas.
 15. The base station of claim 11, wherein the space time coding encoded satellite radio content is received at a wireless access point comprising: a second plurality of antennas for receiving the space time coding encoded satellite radio content transmitted via the first wireless network protocol and transmitting the space time coding encoded satellite radio content via a second wireless network protocol.
 16. The base station of claim 15, wherein the first wireless network protocol is an IEEE 802.16 protocol and the second wireless network protocol is an IEEE 802.11 protocol.
 17. The base station of claim 11, wherein the space time coding encoded satellite radio content is received at a wireless access point comprising: a second plurality of antennas for receiving the space time coding encoded satellite radio content transmitted via the first wireless network protocol and transmitting decoded satellite radio content via a second wireless network protocol; and means for decoding the space time coding encoded satellite radio content.
 18. A base station comprising: a plurality of antennas; a satellite radio receiver for directly receiving satellite radio signals containing satellite radio content, wherein the base station is deployed in a wireless network, wherein the base station is associated with an electronic serial number, and the electronic serial number is associated with an active satellite radio subscription which allows access to the satellite radio content contained in the satellite radio signals, wherein the satellite radio signals are provided by an entity that is different from an entity that provides the wireless network; a space time coding encoder to encode the satellite radio content using space time coding; and a wireless transmitter to transmit the space time coding encoded satellite radio content from the plurality of antennas via a wireless network protocol to a plurality of portable user devices, to allow each of the plurality of portable user devices to access the satellite radio content without individual active satellite radio subscriptions, wherein users of the plurality of portable user devices are subscribers of the wireless network.
 19. The base station of claim 18, further comprising: a decryptor for decrypting the satellite radio signals based on the electronic serial number to access the satellite radio content contained in the satellite radio signals.
 20. The base station of claim 18, wherein the satellite radio receiver receives the satellite radio signals via at least one of the plurality of antennas.
 21. The base station of claim 18, wherein the wireless network protocol comprises one of: an IEEE 802.16 protocol and an IEEE 802.11 protocol.
 22. The base station of claim 18, further comprising: a database storing a plurality of user profiles, each user profile corresponding to an identifier of a portable user device of the plurality of portable user devices.
 23. The base station of claim 22, wherein each user profile includes information relating to billing preferences associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of portable user devices.
 24. The base station of claim 22, wherein each user profile includes information relating to security preferences associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of portable user devices.
 25. The base station of claim 22, wherein each user profile includes information relating to user preferences associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of portable user devices. 